Gyeongwon Line

For the original line's history and other information prior to 1945, see Gyeongwon Line (1911–1945)

One of the first construction projects undertaken by the Railway Bureau of the Government General of Korea was for an east−west trunk line to connect Gyeongseong to the important port of Wonsan. The Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu) opened the line in several stages between 1911 and 1914.[1] The first section of mainline to be electrified by Sentetsu was also along the Gyeongwon Line, with the Pokkye−Gosan section being energised on 27 March 1944,[2] as part of a plan made jointly with the South Manchuria Railway for an electrified railway all the way from Busan to Xinjing, capital of Manchukuo.[3]

After the partition of Korea following the end of the Pacific War in 1945, the Gyeongwon Line was split along the 38th parallel between the stations of Hantangang and Choseongni.[4] The railways in both South and North were nationalised, and the newly-established Korean National Railroad took over operation of the truncated Gyeongwon Line, from Seoul to Choseongni; in the North, the Korean State Railway merged its section of the Gyeongwon Line, Choseong-ri−Wonsan, with the Wonsan−Gowon section of the former Hamgyeong Line to create the Gangwon Line.[4]

The line was severely damaged during the Korean War. After the ceasefire and the subsequent establishment of the Military Demarcation Line, the division of the line changed, with the South gaining control of the line further northwards as far as Woljeongni. However, the line was rebuilt only as far as Sintalli, resulting in an operation line from Yongsan and Sintalli with a length of 88.8 km (55.2 mi).[1]

Following the 1961 coup, the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction started South Korea's first five-year plan, which included a construction program to complete the railway network, to foster economic growth.[5] As part of the program, in the outskirts of Seoul, a 4.9 km (3.0 mi) long avoiding line was built from Kwangwoon University to Mangu on the Jungang Line, called the Mangu Line, which opened on December 30, 1963.[5]

A yellow background in the "Distance" box indicates that section of the line is not electrified.

• Korail
• Korean State Railway
• Transportation in South Korea
• List of Korea-related topics

• Japanese Government Railways (1937), 鉄道停車場一覧. 昭和12年10月1日現在(The List of the Stations as of 1 October 1937), Kawaguchi Printing Company, Tokyo, pp 495–496

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